It’s not often that a show experiences behind-the-scenes production troubles after it has been completed, but that nonetheless remains a problem for the latest Yellowstone series. The neo-Western drama had an impressive five-season run that ended in 2024, and Taylor Sheridan‘s cast of characters were so compelling that it led to prequel series such as Yellowstone 1883, 1923, and two more, Marshals (which premiered in March) and Dutton Ranch. Unfortunately for Dutton Ranch, the show is set to lose a key creative voice, albeit under the pretense that the show gets renewed for a second season.
Variety has reported that Chad Feehan, who worked as the showrunner on the first season of Dutton Ranch, will not be returning to the production if it is renewed for a second season. The reason this is even being discussed is due to the overwhelmingly successful track record of not only Sheridan’s Yellowstone series and its spin-offs, but also other series on Paramount+ that he helped executive produce and create which saw plenty of renewals, such as Landman, Tulsa King, and Mayor of Kingstown. A Dutton Ranch Season 2 announcement feels more likely than not, albeit without the involvement of Feehan.
The premise of Dutton Ranch centers around Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Rip (Cole Hauser), taking place after the events of the final season of Yellowstone. With a two-episode premiere date of May 15 on Paramount+ and Paramount Network, the show is sure to bring in viewership numbers since the Yellowstone franchise already has a dedicated fanbase. The nine-episode first season will drop a new episode weekly after that, though no press or critic reviews have been released at the time of this writing.
While Variety confirmed the news that Feehan would no longer be involved with possible future seasons of Dutton Ranch, it was Puck that first revealed the information. Matt Belloni’s report stated that stars Reilly and Hauser, along with Sheridan and 101 Studios Head David Glasser, were not happy with how Feehan had handled the production and subsequent completion of the first season. Feehan is credited as creator of the series.
This wouldn’t be the first time that a Taylor Sheridan production faced hurdles. One other prominent incident involved the Sylvester Stallone series Tulsa King, in which the fourth season had apparently started production without even having a showrunner, as Dave Erickson had been taken out of that role in a similar fashion to Chad Feehan on Dutton Ranch. With these production woes, it will be interesting to see if the quality of the episodes suffers because of Feehan’s supposed mishandling, or if the show simply wants to go into a different creative direction moving forward.
- Release Date
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May 15, 2026
- Network
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Paramount+
- Showrunner
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Chad Feehan
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
